An Evening of Hirundines

It has rained most of the day here and been windy and cool.  The rain stopped about 4.30pm and so I decided to go out and see if I could find my first Swallow of the year.  Driving through Pen y Banc I quickly noted a distant Swallow hurrying north.  Was this it?  Would this be the only Swallow of the day?




Barn Swallows in warmer times


Not so because as I reached Cilsan Bridge four more passed upriver and then driving through Ffair Fach another six were feeding by the roadside.  I hurried on to Llangadog Common and there by the river were hordes of hirundines.  I counted about 60 Swallows, 30 Sand Martins and four House Martins.  The weather was still miserable so a feeling of Spring was difficult to imagine.  I know one Swallow does not make a summer but this lot left me hoping for warmer days.




The Mute Swan on her isolated nest


Earlier passing a muddy field with still a small puddle in it near Golden Grove I managed a shot of a Mute Swan building a nest on a tiny area of water.  A week or two ago the field was like a small lake but within a week or so it should be bone dry.  I fear this nest has little future.